Isn't it still October? So what's wrong with this picture?

Shoppers at Costco pass a Christmas display Oct. 15 in Brooklyn, N.Y. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and it's only October. The shelves at many stores are already stocked with holiday merchandise. MARK LENNIHAN/ Associated Press

Isn't it still October? So what's wrong with this picture?

It's called Christmas creep, and while it gives you a head start on the holidays, it also lengthens a lucrative season for retailers.

Shoppers, you may be on a last-minute hunt for ghoulish Halloween masks and pumpkin-laden decorations, but chances are, you'll have to navigate forests of tinsel, Christmas trees and strings of holiday lights to get to the cash register.

Blame it on "Christmas creep," a retail phenomenon that has retailers pushing holiday-focused merchandise, decor and displays onto their sales floors earlier and earlier each year. And customers hunting for either turkeys or pilgrims may find it tough: It seems that Thanksgiving has been sent to the retail graveyard.

In Jacksonville, retailers were getting jolly even before the temperatures truly chilled. The Ortega Super Target store on Roosevelt Boulevard had a selection of Christmas gear tucked next to its vast Halloween display in early October - including miniature faux trees, boxes of holiday lights and ornaments and light accessories.

"All the things that people want to get a head start on," according to store manager Ashley Petzold. By next Thursday, the same store will be a winter wonderland, thanks to a deluge of full-sized faux trees, wreaths, gift boxes, bag and bows.

Huge electric snowflakes float above the sales floor at Glenn Certain Studio, a floral design shop on the corner of Park and King streets. Wal-Mart shoppers at the Normandy Boulevard store can already buy a nearly life-size Santa Claus and intricate Nativity sets.

And Costco unveils its holiday finery the earliest of the bunch - in June. First come the toys, which Costco doesn't carry year-round, and the trees sprout up in July. Paul Crowder, assistant store manager of the Costco on Gate Parkway, says it's all part of the members-only discount warehouse's "early in, early out" philosophy.

"We'll be done with Christmas by Dec. 15," Crowder said. "Then we move into the New Year's resolution items, like treadmills and weight sets."

Christmas creep is a trend that's gotten attention in academia, with University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School professors dissecting the phenomenon for an article the school released in March. The professors postulate that rabid competition between retailers brings the holiday season earlier and earlier each year, all in a battle of one-upmanship.

Bart Weitz, executive director of the Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at the University of Florida, says retailers are making an effort to lengthen the profitable holiday season - which accounts for nearly 40 percent of the year's sales - by putting customers in a purchasing mood months before the stockings go up.

Patti Williams, a University of Pennsylvania associate professor of advertising who contributed to the article, says retailers are pushing for a wider holiday window to ease the pressure to their suppliers and distributors.

"It provides more flexibility to manage that supply chain," Williams said. "And by giving some flexibility to the suppliers, instead of having those holiday items sitting in a warehouse, retailers have the potential to earn income on them."

Although many shoppers consider Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) the start of holiday shopping season, there may be good reason for retailers to rev up the cheer early.

According to a recent holiday shopping poll by Consumer Reports, a magazine published by a nonprofit research organization, as of Oct. 15, 29 percent of Americans have already begun their holiday shopping, and 49 percent of Americans said they plan to complete shopping by the second week of December.

Retailers are also counting on shoppers' drive to buy before popular items sell out. "People don't want to be shut out," Marks explained.

The Wharton article finds no evidence that Christmas creep boosts sales for retailers, although it does guarantee stores will be more crowded, thanks to the extra displays and merchandise.

Marks said the exuberant Christmas push can turn some shoppers off, but it can also woo them away from competitors by creating buzz that can later translate into sales.

"I saw that Hallmark was selling its holiday ornaments in July," he said. "I didn't see a lot of people buying them, but they were still staring at them."

But not every retailer has sales floors glistening with tinsel just yet. At the Regency Square Mall, holiday decorations won't go up until the first weekend of November.

"We feel that October is just too early," said Mary Deciero, the mall's business development representative.

According to Marks, the decorations prepare shoppers for "the inevitable."

"Retailers are trying to create a rush, make customers' palms sweaty and their pupils dilate," he said.

It seems that the one holiday they aren't cashing in on is Thanksgiving. "Retailers are skipping right over it," Marks said.

diana.middleton@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4404